Nov 14 - ok, scrap that

I just got back from Labcorp totally frustrated. It took almost a week to get the labwork prescription out of my doctor then another week to get into Labcorp then whoops,I need an appointment, then more than a week to get an early morning (this is fasting, after all) appointment, and they didn't have my doctor's requisition.

I give up. I feel fine and this is just a waste of time and my and the insurance co's money. My heart rate is fine, blood pressure is fine, and I don't need another session sitting with my doctor talking about my vitamin D levels.

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Changing the subject ...

Everything seems to be ok with the thermostat work but with it raining this morning I wasn't able to check that there had been no drop in coolant level. Everything was dry under the hood late yesterday, looking down and lying on the ground looking up, so I'm hoping that this is a done deal.

It's strange having a temperature gauge pointing vertical ... it's strange having heat before I even get a mile and a half from here. I'm not used to this !

Changing the subject ...

Now that I've had breakfast and my coffee is taking hold my mood is improving. It's lucky that it was too early to call the doctor's nurse or I would have. This is so inefficient doing this by voicemail messages. I never talk to this lady since she's got a camera over the front door and knows when there's no-one home so that she can leave a message. ... just kidding of course ...

Changing the subject again ...

I was over to Saxon twice yesterday. The first time was on the Harley, since Sandy brought over the bulky stuff and the second time was with the X5 to handle a couple of small things that were raised the first time.

On my list:

-- take down Starchoice (now Shaw) Canadian satellite dish ... changed my mind on that one and left it there, will wait to talk to tenants about what they are doing for TV

-- fasten piece of baseboard with finish nailer that was behind the buffet/hutch and never fastened.

-- blow out leaves at back

-- fix irrigation drip pipe, plugging a couple of holes and replacing the chewed off ?? end cap.

-- still on my list -- install the piece of track lighting that I'd bought for over the dining room area but never used

-- put license plate on boat trailer prepping to move it

For the latter, I had to pickup license plate screws, since it didn't come with them, which I did on the way to Labcorp to pick up the urine sample container ... which turned out to be a paper cup with a lid -- could have gotten that at McDonald's !! It wasn't even sterile !!

Oh yes, I also got to the post office with Stef's shoes which she had delivered here. Can you believe that the postage for the shoes in a largish box was only $12.72 ? That might seem high to an American only used to dealing with USPS, but when I had a cycling jersey sent to me in an envelope from Mississauga to Loring, all within Ontario, that cost $12 at Canada Post. The jersey was a fraction of the size and a fraction of the weight, a distance of 250 miles vs 1200 miles and international ... what more can I say. Canada Post is a rip-off ! Now I can understand why, covering the area that they do with only a fraction of the volume compared to USPS but perhaps they should outsource themselves ! Of course then Canadians would have to go to India to mail anything :).

We have babies on the way !! Yes, one of the banana stalks has sprouted its purple shoot. I've learned a lot about bananas ... the entire plant is called a "mat" which encompasses the above ground and below ground system. Each stalk will produce 25-35 leaves/shoots before sending up the purple one that produces bananas. After that stalk has produced bananas it dies, kind of a self-defeating pregnancy don't you think ?

The peach tree out front is in flower but we're probably going to cut it down. It doesn't do well in the heat of the summer, loosing most of its leaves. It grew a lot, too much, and is now mostly bare. The papaya, on the other hand, is now huge and the big papayas are now starting to ripen. I've been eating small ones about the size of softballs but now the larger ones getting up to the size of a small football are starting to go yellow. It died back to two small stalks last winter with the frost and I'll have to cut it back if it doesn't die back this winter.

Our realtor has offered to park our boat trailer in their yard. They have 13 acres and it will be behind an outbuilding. I'm going to take her up on that right now but it's not a long-term solution. We'll have to buy them dinner ... perhaps at the club. I'm hoping to take the trailer over there today.

Sandy has done more work in the garden, finishing the clean-up and buying some plants for the empty areas. She just left for the gym, two days in a row ... the jockette is back !

Onward ? I guess ...